Rail-joint.



S.-J. WATKINS.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JAILZ L, 1914;

1QO9544Q Patented May 5, 1914.

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; UNrrn s'rarns RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Application filed January 24, 1914. Serial No. 814,193.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. WATKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Avondale, in the county of Pueblo and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in rail joints and more particularly to a joint of the scarf type, the main object of the invention being the provision of a rail joint wherein the meeting ends of two rails may be quickly and readily secured together without the use of bolts, nuts or any of the other usual forms of fastening means wherein the rails will be securely held against longitudinal movement.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a rail joint of the above character which will possess advantages in points of efficiency and durability, is inexpensive to manufacture and at the same time is simple in construction and operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claim and shown in the accompanying drawings,

in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a rail joint constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. at is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view illustrating the meeting ends of the rails showing the same about to be placed in their operative position.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 and 2 indicate the meeting ends of two rails, the rail end 1 being cut away upon one side thereof, as shown at 3 to form a longitudinally extending tongue 4 and is further provided with a longitudinal recess 5 which preferably extends in longitudinal alinement with the tongue 42. The rail end 1 is further provided with a diagonal passage 6 which extends across the rail. The passage 6 extends the full height of the rail upon one side thereof and extends one-half of the height of the rail on the other side thereof so as to provide a continuous connection between the tongue 4 and the rail end 1. The rail end 2 is provided adjacent the end thereof with a side recess 8 and is further provided at its end with a longitudinally extending tongue 9, said tongue preferably extending in longitudinal alinement with the recess 8 and adapted to be disposed within the recess 5 formed in the rail end 1. The reduced portion 10 of the rail end 2 is disposed within the cut away portion 3 so that the tongue 4 formed on the rail end 1 will be arranged within the recess 8. By having the tongue 9 of the rail end 2 ofi'set from the reduced portion 10, it provides a diagonal connection, as shown at 11, which is adapted to be arranged within the diagonal passage 6 and having inclined walls adapted to abut against the inclined walls of the passage 6. The end of the tongue 4 is adapted to abut against the shoulder 12 formed at the inner end of the recess 8 and the tongue 9 is adapted to abut against the shoulder 13 formed at the inner end of the recess 5 so as to absolutely prevent longitudinal movement of either of the rail ends.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that the two ends of the rail may be readily connected together by first placing the rail end 1 in position, then dropping the rail end 2 downwardly in a vertical plane so that the tongue 9 and the reduced portion 10 will enter directly into the recess 5 and the cut away portion 3 respectively, the tongue at on the rail end 1 extending upwardly through the recess 8. It will also be apparent that any form of joint chair may be used for securely holding the rail ends in position and it will be apparent that they may be quickly and readily discon= nected in a manner reverse to the connection, as above described.

My improved rail joint is extremely simple in construction and can be manufactured at a comparatively low cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, it will be obvious that various changes in the details of construction and in the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carrying my invention into practice without sacrificing any of the novel features or departing from the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is In combination with the meeting .ends of two rails, one of said rail ends having a cut away portion to provide a tongue and further provlded wlth a recess arranged in ion a diagonal connection between the body of the gitudinai alineinent with the tongue, said} rail and the tongue adapted to be disposed within the diagonal passage of the first rail end, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL J. WATKINS.

"itnesses 1 PERMELIA E. RICHARDSON, N. H. JOHNSON.

rail end being further provided with a di- I agonal passage connecting the cut away portion and the recess, a second rail end having a side recess adjacent its outer end to receive the tongue on the first rail end and i further provided with a cut away portion l forming a tongue adapted to be disposed Within the recess of the first rail end and a 5 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. C. 

